I can still remember it to this day. My very first bottle of a strange new beer called Samuel Adams Boston Lager, all the way back in the mid eighties. I  lived in Rhode Island then, and that meant I was one of the first in the country to try this amazing new brew that was destined to change brewing history in America. Lucky me.

Since then, the Boston Beer Company, makers of Samuel Adams beers, has grown exponentially, rising to become one of America's largest brewing concerns. Their stock continues to skyrocket in a fashion directly proportional to the increasing number of brews in their portfolio. The latest: Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale.

I have one thing to say to Boston Beer regarding Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale: what took you so long guys? Pumpkin beers are, of course, among my very favorite beers of all. The pumpkin has a long tradition of use as a brewing ingredient in America, right back to the days when the pilgrims landed here. They used it as a substitute for scarce barley malt, but today it is used for the unique flavor it can impart.

Boston beer has introduced Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale in it's 2010 Harvest Sampler collection. This 12-pack includes two bottles each of the Pumpkin Ale, Black Lager, Boston Lager, Octoberfest, and the excellent Dunkelweizen. You can't go wrong for a measly 12 bucks or so on this one folks.

Boston Beer calls this " A perennial favorite at our brewery Halloween party" , though that just makes us wonder all the more why they didn't release it sooner. They use a whopping 11 pounds of pumpkin per barrel, and you can certainly taste it. The beer is also made with Metcalf and Copeland pale malts as well as smoked malt, Caramel 60, Special B, and that old BBC favorite, two-row Harrington. It's hopped with Fuggles and East Kent Goldings and spiced with nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice.

Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale pours to a burnt orange color with a thick creamy head formation and a nose lightly hinting at nutty malt and spice. Taking a sip, the beer is moderate in body and packed with spicy pumpkin pie flavor. Toasted malt and roasted pumpkin come to the fore immediately with a bit of caramel to boot, then the spices hit: nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, and a hint of ginger. You can really taste the vegetal, meaty pumpkin too, oh so important in a pumpkin beer.

The spices dry the beer nicely, along with a hint of the grassy English hops. Overall, Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale is a real winner, and my only regret is that it's only sold in the 12-pack sampler. Two bottles of this little beauty just won't be enough.

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